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Professor Brigid Anderson
Backstory Family Brigid's father (Nathan Anderson) is retired USAF. Her mother (Moira Anderson, née Williams) was an Auror and later intelligence officer within the Ministry. She is also currently retired. Nathan and Moira (parents)met in 1977 while Nathan was a young Airman stationed at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. Moira was working undercover as a Muggle barkeep by the name Gillian Pearce at a local tavern, tracking the movements of a group of Death Eaters carrying out a string of kidnappings and murders of Muggles in the area. Over the many months of Moira's assignment, she and Nathan grew very close. Nathan was exposed to the wizarding world when the group of Death Eaters Moira was tracking carried out an attack on the tavern. With Moira's covert help, Nathan managed to escape before the Aurors could perform the required memory wipes on the Muggles who witnessed the attacks. The two entered a romantic relationship not long after and were married in 1978. Brigid was born two years later. In 1981, Moira suffered a crippling injury while engaging a group of Death Eaters and werewolves in combat. She lost her right leg below the knee in the assault, and after recovering, she was reassigned to an administrative position as an intelligence officer within the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Childhood The family decided to settle in Suffolk, even throughout her father's many deployments. Brigid was a sweet child, always looking to help others. In 1991, her father was deployed to combat during Operation Desert Storm. Later that year, Brigid started attending Hogwarts and was sorted into Hufflepuff, and made friends quickly Being a half blood witch, she felt compelled to stick up for other half bloods and muggleborns who were being bullied, even if it meant putting herself in the proverbial line of fire. Even though it was early in her schooling, she started learning on her own how to heal simple injuries that those being bullied (and sometime she herself) sustained. By her the end of her fourth year at Hogwarts, after growing up witnessing her mother's long term disability, the injuries to the students due to the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, and seeing Cedric Diggory's body being taken away at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, Brigid decided that she wanted to become a healer. In her fifth year, Brigid was asked by her good friend and fellow Hufflepuff, Belle Violet, to join Dumbledore's Army. In addition to learning how to fight with the DA, Brigid threw herself heavily into her studies, and excelled in her potions, herbology, and healing classes. During her seventh year, she worked with the DA, working out of the Room of Requirement to tend to injuries of students who were physically punished by the Carrows and those who were brought through the Hog's Head/Hogwarts tunnel by Aberforth. During the Battle of Hogwarts, she rushed to Madam Pomfrey's side to assist her and the rest of the healer staff in tending to the injured. Adult Education After graduating from Hogwarts, Brigid traveled to the United States to continue her studies with healers at the Salem Witches' Institute. The mediwitch in charge of extended medical education, a Boston native by the name of Erin McGowan, saw much potential in the bright young witch and took Brigid under her wing. The first few months were difficult for Brigid, due to her deeply held desire to fix or eradicate any illness or injury that a person could possibly have. After a particularly frustrating class where Brigid failed to properly cast the Reparifors spell, Erin sat down with Brigid in her office to attempt to find the source of Brigid's anxieties. Brigid shared her frustrations, telling Erin about her parents (both her mother's disability and the combat-related PTSD/alcoholism that her father suffered from after he returned home from Kuwait), the many catastrophes at Hogwarts, the trauma suffered under Umbridge's tenure, and the horrors of Battle of Hogwarts. She expressed her dismay at being unable to take away the pain and emotional distress suffered by her parents and her friends. Erin explained to Brigid that having permanent disabilities or incurable or mental illnesses, while they can be difficult and painful, can be treated and give someone a good quality of life; it just requires a different type of care. Erin also kindly suggested that perhaps Brigid herself should seek therapy, given the trauma she had experienced all through her childhood that she had internalized in order to help her friends. Erin reminded Brigid that keeping up with her own self care and mental well-being was a vital part of being a healer, as one cannot care for others if you are neglecting your own health. Brigid took this advice to heart, and her skills grew by leaps and bounds in her four years at the Institute. She also received the psychotherapy that Erin suggested, and made great progress towards healing her own wounds. Brigid found herself drawn to psychology throughout her adult education under Erin's tutelage. After completing her education in Salem, she traveled to New York City for her residency program at St. Jouge's Hospital for the Ailing and Maimed. She completed her residency in 2003. Career Upon completing her residency, Brigid decided to continue her career at St. Jouge's, staying on staff at the hospital for two years. However, as much as she loved New York, she dearly missed her family and friends in the UK. In 2005, Brigid transferred to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in the Janus Thickey Ward, treating patients who had suffered permanent spell damage from unliftable jinxes, hexes, curses, incorrectly applied charms, etc. She started out as a mediwitch and worked her way up to being the head psychiatrist on the ward by 2009. She thoroughly enjoyed her work and remained on the ward for many years. She stayed in close contact with both Erin and with Madam Pomfrey, her mentors and dear friends. In 2013, Brigid received an owl from Madam Pomfrey informing her of a new therapist position that was being created at Hogwarts, and offered her recommendation if Brigid was interested in the job. Brigid jumped at the opportunity and passed her interviews with flying colors. In 2016, she put together a proposal add psychology classes to the medical course of study, which was approved. With the assistance of the school healers and the other medical studies staff, she put together a series of classes and took the position of Professor of Advanced Psychology, while continuing in a more limited role as a therapist after more staff were hired to take on some of the psychiatric care workload. Personality Brigid is a true Hufflepuff. She is incredibly patient and kind, but also encourages the importance of hard work, both in her students and in her patients when she was a psychiatric healer. She believes in giving those under her care the tools to improve themselves and cope with past traumas. She is loyal to her friends, but will not let people take advantage of that loyalty to walk all over her. While she can hold her own in a fight, she prefers to stay off the front lines and protect those who can’t fight and heal the injured. As a professor, she keeps her class challenging. However, her office is door open to both the students in her class and any other student who needs help, or just someone to talk to. She always has a kettle of tea and a listening ear available to anyone who needs it. She is also involved with the Hogwarts GSA. Story Arc None yet!